From 1992 to 2007

Prior to Establishment: Primary Period

“The City of Ulsan Needs a National University.”

There were many obstacles that were overcome in order to make the dream of Ulsan citizens come true. In 1992, the presidential candidate of South Korea, Young Sam Kim made a pledge of making a national university in Ulsan. In 1994, the committee for building a national university in Ulsan was organized with the name “Hanul University” and started its activity.

“Ulsan City, Setting up University Establishment Planning Team”

The city of Ulsan has organized the university establishment planning team and committee and start activities of attracting by sending out establishment brochures to 702 organizations, such as universities, companies, and corporations. Despite these strenuous efforts, they did not raise the national interest, making the dream of establishing a national university sleeping away.

Establishment of ‘Ulsan Citizen Organization of National University’

The citizens of Ulsan gathered to form an organization for the establishment of a national university in September, 2001 and this became the official organization, named the Ulsan Citizen Organization of National University in October 2001. This organization was composed of 160 organizations with around 2000 members.

Petition for Building a National University in Ulsan

In March 2002, the petition aiming for a million citizens was started. However, only 9 percent of the entire population of Ulsan partook for this event. In May 2003, once again, they held a pan-citizen meeting at Dongchun Sports Center in Ulsan for signature-gathering petitions. Despite being held on weekdays, 4000 citizens participated. After a year and a half, a total of 589,000 of 106,000 Ulsan citizens signed the petition, showing the will of building a National University in Ulsan.

Petition, Delivered to the Congress

In 2004, there was a relay speech for establishment of a National University. Including the “Ulsan Citizen Organization of National University”, 20 organizations all over Korea partook in this event, urging the establishment of National University in Ulsan. In July of the same year, 33 members of the organization and six members of the assembly delivered the petition to the Congress.

Members of the Assembly and the Citizens of Ulsan, Promoting the Establishment of a National University in front of the Parliament Building (July 14, 2004)

Petition is delivered to the Congress (July 14, 2004)

Organization of the Council for Establishment of a National University at the Blue House

After there had no progress on the establishment, the city of Ulsan announced the promotion of building a national university in Ulsan on August 2005, and in September of the same year, the council at the Blue House was organized. In this council, specifics of the university were discussed. Under the following conditions, a national university could be build in Ulsan: (1) the number of applicants for entrance needed to 1500; (2) there would be benchmarking academic programs from MIT university; (3) the city of Ulsan city would provide the land and the full financial support for constructing the university.

Press conference: Promoting the Establishment of a National University (Municipal Assembly, August 17 2005)

Announcement of Plans for the University Establishment

With the municipal assembly’s hard work, the plans for the university establishment were finally announced on September, 2005. On the same day, the City of Ulsan signed an agreement with the Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development of South Korea, regarding the University establishment.

Selection of University Site

The city of Ulsan organized the “Site selection committee” in 2005 and had been accepting possible campus site candidates. The central and north districts of Ulsan, Ulju, and 10 other areas in Ulsan were selected as candidates. Decisions were made on February 2006 to select the Ulju area as the final site for building the university. Tensions between provinces could have occurred, but a common goal of making a national university in Ulsan made the entire province help each other.

Launching of the “Site Selection Committee” (December 12, 2005)

The Final University Site (Ban-Yeon Area)

Legislative Bill, Issued on the Establishment of a National University of Ulsan

The government decided to establish a legal basis upon the transition of a national university to a corporatized university over time in order to increase the competitiveness among national universities. However, due to severe protest from the national and public universities, the city of Ulsan decided that the only answer to solve this issue was to get an exclusive legislative push. The legislation was not issued by the government, but by the member of congress, and Ulju area congressmen Kang Gil Bu leaped head on into issuance of the legislation.

First Presidential Appointment Ceremony

In September 2007, President Moo Je Cho was appointed as the first president of UNIST and the registration of the establishment of the university was also finished. With the support of the City of Ulsan, the first presidential inauguration of President Cho was held at UNIST in November, as well as the groundbreaking ceremony. The president revealed his intention towards making UNIST, a world leading university that was weighed alongside KAIST and POSTECH.

From 2007 to 2009

After Establishment

This is the period where the first president of UNIST, Moo Je Cho’s leadership and tactics came into play. President Cho stated “The quality of a University cannot overpass the quality of the professors, and great faculty also attracts outstanding students.” With this in mind, he personally went on a journey to recruit world-renowned scientists and also to attract outstanding students into UNIST by visiting various high schools in the world and organizing information sessions.

Recruitment of World Class Faculty

President Cho believes that great faculty not only does great work, but also attracts outstanding students. With this in mind, he personally went on a journey to recruit world-renowned scientists in 2008 by visiting America’s outstanding universities, such as University of California Berkley, Stanford, Harvard, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Thanks to his efforts, 586 world-class scientists all over the world applied and 47 professors were recruited before the opening ceremony in 2009. The average age of professors is 38.6 years and this is the youngest age rate, compared to other national universities in Korea.

UNIST 공사 현장(2008년)

Globalized Education System

UNIST believes that ‘Convergence Technology focused University’, ‘Fostering Creative Intellects’, ‘Global University’ are the 3 key phrases of global education. With this vision in mind, UNIST benchmarked world-renowned universities, such as Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering in undergraduate aspects, MIT for graduate and research, and Georgia Institute of Technology for cooperative systems. Moreover, after the meeting with the President of HKUST, President Cho decided to conduct all academic courses in 100% English.

Spring Scenery, UNIST

Recruitment of Outstanding Students

Summer Scenery, UNIST

UNIST was originally scheduled to open in 2010, but President Cho accelerated the plan to 2009. This brought several main problems, such as the admission of excellent students and completion of student dormitory. When student housing became a major issue, recruitment of outstanding students became even more difficult. The problem was solved by initially accommodating these students in professor’s apartment complexes and admitting only the half of the original entrance quota (500/1000) if the applicants did not meet their requirements or academic expectations. President Cho held many briefing sessions on its admission requirements for graduating high school students and their parents all around Korea.

Constructing state of the art research facilities

Fall Summer Scenery, UNIST

In order to have a world class faculty and an outstanding supporting staff, UNIST needed state-of-the-art research facilities. President Cho visited National Assembly to ask for financial support, and as a result we were able to receive government expenditure of 31 billion (KRW) from the municipal members of the congress for research facility construction. The development funding from the congress was enough for the initial cost of construction, but the funding for future research facilities is still a big homework.

Support from the City of Ulsan, Ulju County, and the Local Enterprises in Ulsan

Winter Scenery, UNIST

Ulsan city promised to provide the annual development funding of 10 billion (KRW) for the next 15 years to UNIST. In addition, the Ulju County also promised to provide the annual funding of 5 billion (KRW) for the next 10 years. The local enterprises, such as Kyungdong City Gas has promised to support the development funding of 5 billion (KRW) for two years. We could not have built this University alone without the lavish financial support from the local enterprises, the City of Ulsan, the Ulju county and its citizens. We greatly appreciate all your kind support.

2009 to Present

After Establishment: Secondary Period

New Beginning as the First Corporatized National University

First Entrance Ceremony

The University’s first entrance ceremony was held on March, 2009, along with the establishment ceremony at the ongoing construction site on campus. At the ceremony, 500 admitted first-year students vowed to build UNIST the ‘Pioneering global science and technology institute that contributes to humanity.’ All admitted first-year students were the top 5% students of Korea, and this helped UNIST to become one of the best universities nationally.

Vision 2030 Announcement

Vision 2030 Announcement

On November 2011, UNIST announced its aim to become a world top 10 university by 2030, thus announcing the vision 2030.

Second Presidential Term

President Moo Je Cho

After consideration of various candidates, President Cho was elected for a second presidential term in 2011. President Cho dreamed of a University that “contributes to science, technology, and innovation,” and throughout his past appointment, UNIST has truly become one of world’s leading science and technology universities, despite being smaller and younger than its peers.

UNIST’s First Graduation Ceremony

First Graduation Ceremony

The University’s first graduation ceremony was held on February 26, 2013. This was a special day for the class of 2013, as they are the first graduates of UNIST. President Cho stated at the graduation ceremony, “Have your dreams toward the future and have optimistic and adventurous spirits to become global leaders that contribute to humanity”. Members of the class of 2013 mostly decided to continue their education by going into graduate schools at UNIST.

2nd B.T.L Construction Ceremony

A Bird’s Eye View of Illustration of the Second B.T.L Construction Plan

The second B.T.L construction ceremony was held on June 13, 2013 with the purpose of creating UNIST a “World Top 10 Research-based University” by building more research facilities and creating rich learning environment for students practice and develops their scientific skills. UNIST is planning to expand and build additional apartment complex, thereby enhancing the quality of life for all faculty members of UNIST.

Hosting the 3rd IBS Research Center on Campus

Since 2012, UNIST has accomplished a feat of hosting 3 IBS Campus Research Centers on campus, receiving funding of $300 billion USD over 10 year from Korea Institute for Basic Science. These campus site labs are led by world leading scientists, Steve Granick, Rodney S. Ruoff, and Kyung Jae Myung and will be contributing to the progress of basic sciences and society.

Rodney S. Ruoff, Director of IBS Center for CMCM

Steve Granick, Director of IBS Center for Soft and Living Matter

Kyung Jae Myung, Director of Center for Genomic Integrity

September 28, 2015- The official launch of UNIST, as a government-funded research institute for science and technology.

UNIST made a leap from a national university to a government-funded S&T institute. After its opening in 2009, UNIST now stands shoulder to shoulder with world’s top universities in the Lithium-ion Secondary Battery research field, along with MIT and Stanford University. Not only that, in recent years, UNIST has been also designated as a government-funded research institute from IBS, Korea and hosted 3 IBS campus site labs, led by world-renowned scientists. UNIST will actively perform as both localized and globalized research institute of science and technology.

Inauguration of President Mooyoung Jung

After being nominated as the final candidate by the committee of president recommendation and getting the approvals by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Dr. Mooyoung Jung was formally inaugurated as the first president of UNIST. President Jung has been in charge of various important positions at UNIST. He has a big plan of building 10 representative research brands of UNIST.

October 18, 2016 – UNIST Announces Expansion of Research Space

UNIST is quickly making its way up once again with its newly expanded research space. By strengthening its convergence research system, UNIST is now ready to take off as a world-class research-oriented institution.On the land of 108,988㎡, UNIST has built seven new research buildings, as well as five other supplementary facilities.In particular, the new expanded research space offers the Super Cleanroom facility that can mass-produce nano-scale devices, as well as the Learning Commons, a cloud-based learning space that assures 100 individuals to learn at the same time.

2010

Signing a MoU with the National Fusion Research Institute of South Korea for a joint research

08.13

Opening of Hans Schöler Stem Cell Research Center (HSSCRC)

07.01

Opening of UNIST Sports Center

06.24

Opening of UNIST Supercomputing Center

03.02

UNIST’s second entrance ceremony

2009

10.08

Signing a MoU on the establishment of UNIST-Olympus Biomed Imaging Center (UOBC)

08.07

Foundation of the Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy (WCU Undergraduate Studies)

04.26

UNIST was awarded the World Class University (WCU) Project

03.02

UNIST’s first Entrance Ceremony
Opening of the UNIST Central Research Facility (UCRF)

2015

11.25

Signing MOU of Genome Korea in Ulsan with Ulsan Metropolitan City, the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology, Ulsan University Hospital, and the University of Ulsan
Genome Korea in Ulsan is collaborating with Harvard Medical School’s Personal Genome Project (PGP)

10.23

Inauguration Ceremony of the Center for Smart Sensor Systems (CSSS)

10.12

The Opening Ceremony of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and Inauguration Ceremony of President

09.28

The Launch of Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and the Appointment of the First President Mooyoung Jung

09.14

Being selected for the project of building the ecofriendly automobile parts commercialization with 3D printing application

07.24

Concluding a joint research agreement with The APEC Climate Center (APCC) to conquer climate change

05.07

The groundbreaking ceremony of the UNIST Future Secondary Batteries Research Center

04.27

The opening ceremony of IBS research center for Multi-Dimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM)

04.16

Concluding a joint research agreement with National Institute of Biological Resources